Falbe Publishing

Putting the Paranormal Into Prague

History embraces Renaissance beliefs in witchcraft and werewolves in Werelord Thal by Tracy Falbe. Touring blogs to promote her new historical fantasy, she described the historic quarters of Prague in a guest post at the Vaetra Files blog.

Battle Creek, MI -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/20/2014 -- The historic city of Prague created the paranormal playground for the setting of Tracy Falbe’s ninth novel, the historical paranormal fantasy Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale. Sharing from her research for the novel, Falbe wrote about the historic quarters of Prague in a guest post at the Vaetra Files, the blog of Daniel R. Marvello.

She described four distinct areas of the city that were present during the Renaissance era. These are Old Town, New Town, the Jewish Quarter, and the Little Quarter. Modern tourists still enjoy these areas known for their architecture and cultural life.

The novel Werelord Thal is set in Bohemia in 1561 when Prague was home of the Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperors. Falbe brought together the witchcraft and monster folklore of the time with the historical setting to create a romantic adventure where the magic was real instead of just imagined.

Werelord Thal begins when the witch Gretchen casts the werewolf spell upon her son Thal before being burned at the stake. The plot is driven by the werewolf’s hunt to punish her killers. Themes of persecution and living on the fringe of society permeate the novel.

Falbe had wanted to write a novel about Renaissance witch hunting for a long time. While researching potential settings, she fell in love with the landscape and architecture of Prague. “It’s like a ready-made fantasy setting. All you have to do is add magic,” said Falbe, who is also the author of two other epic fantasy series Rys Rising and The Rys Chronicles.

Research was an essential part of crafting details for the story. For example in her guest post she wrote of Old Town:

“The Old Town Square outside the famous hall provided the historical scene for many executions, including a famous purging of Protestant leaders in 1621. This square is where Thal’s mother the witch Gretchen is burned to death.”

Numerous famous landmarks of Prague were present in the 16th century and appear in the novel. The iconic Charles Bridge occupies many scenes, including a dramatic confrontation between two werewolves. Her research informed her that the statues tourists admire on the bridge today were not present during the time of the novel. “I had to always resist the temptation to mention statues on the bridge. I really wanted them to be there,” Falbe said.

Her host for this stop of the Werewolves in the Renaissance blog tour was Daniel R. Marvello, author of The Vaetra Chronicles a magical fantasy adventure series.

Falbe will continue to tour blogs through March 13th and share more of her research notes. Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale is available as a paperback and ebook. Readers can find it at numerous retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords, and her web store Brave Luck Books.